Mabior Chol

Mabior Chol (born 29 January 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

He previously played for the Richmond Football Club and the Gold Coast Suns.

They moved to Australia in 2005 when Chol was eight years of age, settling in the Brisbane suburb of Acacia Ridge.

After playing soccer and basketball at a younger age, Chol took up Australian rules football when he joined the Yeronga State High School team at age 12.

After playing in the state school final at The Gabba, he committed to playing the game at junior level the next year and joined the Yeronga South Brisbane Devils.

In 2013 Chol played for the World 18 team at the national under 16 championships.

He later entered the junior Queensland development pathway and the Brisbane Lions Academy where he would play in 2014 and 2015.

Chol also played for Aspley and the Lions' reserve team in the NEAFL in addition to the Lions' under 18 team.

In 2015 he played with the Allies in an under 18 match as a curtain raiser to the year's AFL Grand Final.

Chol was a strong performer in the 2015 AFL draft combine, recording the number one standing vertical jump score (334 cm), as well as placing second in the running vertical jump test (357 cm) and fourth in the relative running vertical jump test (90 cm).

He also came second to future teammate Daniel Rioli in the 30 metre repeat sprint test (24.3 seconds).

Prior to the draft he was also lauded by Queensland academy coach Adrian Fletcher for his positional versatility and his marking prowess.

He was drafted by Richmond in the 2016 rookie draft and made his debut in round 23, 2016.

Chol was drafted by with the club's second selection and 30th selection overall in the 2016 rookie draft.

He first represented Richmond in the club's 2016 pre-season match against Fremantle.

He failed to gain selection at senior level as a result though, instead playing a majority of his season with the club's reserves side in the VFL.

There he played in a myriad of roles, including as a key defender, key forward and as a ruck.

He eventually made his AFL debut in Richmond's last match of the season, in round 23 against at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Chol thereby became the fourth player of Sudanese descent (after Majak Daw, Aliir Aliir and Reuben William) to play senior AFL football.

Over the 2017 pre-season Chol focused on developing his body, looking to add muscle weight and to improve his endurance running.

Injuries to key forwards early in the season saw Chol in contention for a senior call-up, but coach Damien Hardwick told the media he was hesitant to play the "inexperienced" Chol.

In late July Chol was involved in a training mishap, accidentally poking forward Jack Riewoldt in the eye and causing him to miss two matches as a result.

By season's end Chol had failed to play senior football that year.

He did however contribute in the reserves, kicking 13 goals over 22 matches including in the team's losing grand final.

Chol was delisted by the club in 2018 before being immediately re-rookied in the 2019 rookie draft.

Chol played his first football of 2018 in February, travelling to Sydney to play in Richmond's AFLX squad for that year's exhibition series.

In the pre-season tournament he played in one match and kicked one goal, playing a majority of the game as Richmond's lead ruck after Toby Nankervis suffered concussion early in that match.

His performance earned the praise of Seven Network commentator Tim Watson, who predicted he would be playing AFL level football for Richmond by season's end.

While he did not earn immediate selection, he would be named as an emergency for the first time in round 3.

In early June Chol suffered a fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his foot while landing from a mark in training.

The surgery and resulting recovery was expected to see him in a stabilising moon boot for three weeks and sideline him from matches for eight to ten weeks.

By early-July he had resumed walking free of the boot and by late-August he was approaching the final stages of aerobic conditioning prior to a footballing return.

Chol eventually made his return to VFL football in Richmond's semi-final loss to, which brought to an end his and the club's reserves season after playing eight matches and kicking 11 goals.

He had failed to earn a senior match that year and the club subsequently delisted him at the end of the season.

As part of the announcement, club officials said they would consider their options in regards to Chol, while The Age reported that Chol would be reselected by Richmond in the coming rookie draft should he fail to be recruited by another club in the interim.

In 2019 Chol won a VFL premiership while playing with the Richmond reserves side and again in 2023 while playing for the Gold Coast Suns reserves side.

Chol moved from Richmond to Gold Coast as a free agent in October 2021.

Chol was born in present-day South Sudan, before his family fled to Egypt to avoid the ongoing civil war when he was two years old.

These reports proved correct when Chol was re-drafted to Richmond with the 45th pick in the 2019 rookie draft.

A fully fit Chol completed a full pre-season training schedule before beginning the 2019 season with the club's reserves side in the VFL, including serving as stand-in captain in a pre-season match against the in March.